After years of negative headlines, Tempe Tavern is done. The longtime watering hole near Arizona State University on Apache Boulevard east of McClintock shut down effective Sept. 16, according to a statement from attorney Timothy La Sota.
Word got out after online auction listings appeared this week advertising a full liquidation of everything from barstools and tables to commercial fridges and beer taps.
La Sota says the decision to close came in early September before a fatal crash involving a Tavern patron. State liquor investigators determined 21-year-old Zachary Robert Penrod had been drinking there before he allegedly caused a U.S. 60 wreck that killed one person and injured two others.
It’s the second death linked to the bar. In December 2025, police said a 19-year-old had been partying there before allegedly hitting a motorcyclist and leaving the scene.
In November 2025, 249 people were arrested or cited in one night during a massive underage-drinking sting at the bar. It came seven months after 173 arrests were made there in a single night in April.
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